I promise that I'm not giving up on my other fic, but this idea popped into my head and I couldn't get it out. So…please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't so much own the characters.

Kirsten placed her earring into her ear and studied her reflection in the mirror. She peered closer and frowned at the lines around her eyes. She knew, rationally, that those were laugh lines, and that their existence proved that she had smiled and laughed a lot during her thirty-seven years, and that was a good thing. But she couldn't help but wish that they weren't so deep, so noticeable.

"Hey honey, have you seen my sunglasses?" Her husband's voice interrupted her scrutiny and she turned from the mirror to face him.

"No I haven't," Kirsten answered as she pulled herself completely away from the mirror to grab her suit jacket.

"You look beautiful," Sandy complimented. Kirsten was amazed that after all of these years, his compliments still surprised her, and still made her blush. And were always incredibly well-timed.

"I'm getting old," she whined as she crossed over to him.

"You are not getting old," he replied wrapping his arms around her. Before she could argue back that she was, indeed, getting old, Seth's voice interrupted her.

"Mom!" Sandy placed a kiss on her forehead as she pulled away.

"And you aren't getting old," he said as she walked out of the room. "You are only in your thirties."

"Late thirties," Kirsten reminded as she descended the stairs. Seth was standing in the living room, his skateboard next to him, and his back pack slung over one shoulder.

"I need you to sign this permission slip," he said holding it out for her to take.

"Permission for what?" Kirsten asked, taking the paper and scanning over it quickly.

"Field trip," Seth said disdainfully. Never had those two words been said with such venom, Kirsten thought. She, like most other kids, had loved field trips when she was younger. Seth, on the other hand, hated them. It broke her heart that Seth's high school experience was turning out to be nothing like hers.

"Where to?" Kirsten asked as she reached down into her briefcase that was resting up against the hall table and quickly signed her name to the bottom of the sheet of paper.

"To some play," Seth said shrugging. "It's for English. At least everyone will have assigned seats, and not be able to talk for a couple hours. It's better than when they took us to the museum." Kirsten winced at the memory of an eleven-year-old Seth coming home from the field trip to the natural history museum. He had walked in, slammed the door, and headed straight up to his bedroom, ignoring her when she had asked how it was. When she went up to his bedroom, she found him lying on his bed, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed.

"Seth? What happened?"

"Nothing," Seth had said rolling over so that he wasn't facing her.

"Seth Ezekiel, what happened today?"

"You promise you won't call the school?" Kirsten hated to make that promise, but she knew that the last time Sandy had called to complain, Seth had been absolutely mortified, and hadn't talked to either of his parents for weeks.

"I promise," she said hoping that it wasn't something too terrible.

"It was just…stupid Luke and his minions. We were walking through the dinosaur exhibit, and I was hanging back a little, looking at T-Rex, cause he's the best one, you know?" Kirsten nodded, and Seth continued. "And next thing I know, they have me hanging upside down over top of the garbage can and then I'm face down in a pile of trash." Seth's eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill again, and Kirsten placed her arms around him and pulled him close to her.

"Why did they…do that?" Kirsten asked softly, running a hand through Seth's unruly hair. Seth shrugged.

"When I asked them that, they said that because it was my punishment for existing. And they were bored, and dinosaurs were, in Chip's words, 'for stupid queers.'"

That was the last time that Seth looked forward to a field trip, or anything school related for that matter.

"Maybe it won't be that bad," Kirsten offered, handing him back the permission slip.

"Yeah right," Seth scoffed. Kirsten fought the urge to reach out and hold her son. He had long been in a stage where he hadn't wanted any sort of physical contact from either parent.

"Do you want a ride to school?" Kirsten asked reaching for her briefcase and keys.

"No," Seth said. He shoved the paper in his back pack and waved his hand in goodbye and disappeared down the driveway on his skateboard. Kirsten sighed and headed into the kitchen to pour herself some coffee.

"What did he need?" Sandy asked as he continued the search for his sunglasses.

"Permission slip signed," Kirsten answered. She sighed.

"What's the matter honey?" Sandy asked, momentarily abandoning his hunt.

"I just…I don't know what to do about him," Kirsten sighed. "I feel like it's my fault."

"It's not."

"I could have done something more to help him fit in or…I don't know."

"You couldn't have," Sandy assured her. "He's okay. He's just a teenager, and going through a rough time."

"A rough time?" Kirsten repeated. "This rough time has been going on since we moved here ten years ago." Kirsten had long come to grips with the fact that this wasn't just a phase that Seth was going through.

"Well, we can reopen the boarding school discussion," Sandy suggested and was hit with a glare from Kirsten.

"You know how I feel about boarding schools," she said. "I just…I don't want him to think that we are just giving up on him. What does that say to him? To everyone else? We don't know what to do with you honey, so we're going to send you away until you aren't a surly teenager any more."

"We're doing the best we can," Sandy told her. Kirsten nodded, not looking convinced, but giving up on the subject for the time being.

"So do you have to go into court today?"

"No," Sandy said shaking his head. "Not today. What's on your schedule?"

"Well, my dad just landed that new development deal in Chino, and he's insisting that I be there today at the press conference at five." She had argued with him, reminding him that she was in charge of residential developments and this certainly didn't qualify in that category, but once her father had it in his head the way something was supposed to go, it was very hard to talk him out of it. And this was no exception. So she was off to Chino today. "And I was thinking that I could stop by afterwards and we could get dinner? I left Seth some money for a pizza."

"That sounds wonderful," Sandy said leaning to give her a kiss. "Call me after your press conference."

"Okay," Kirsten replied returning the kiss.

"Be careful down there today," he warned. "Stick with your dad." Kirsten rolled her eyes at him, and gave him another kiss before pulling away. His concern was genuine, and she was reminded what a great guy she was married to, but she sincerely doubted that anything would happen with all the news crews around. But Sandy was a worrier. A worrier and a protector, and there was nothing she could do about it. "I mean it Kirsten."

"Okay," she repeated. "I'll be careful. I'll call you. I have to go." She grabbed her coffee and gave him a little wave as she headed out the door.

The construction workers were already there and had already started even though they hadn't yet broken ground on the new project. Caleb had wanted the press conference to be in the evening, but hadn't wanted to waste any time with getting started.

"Time is money," he reminded Kirsten. So the construction crews were already starting to pour the concrete for the foundation when they arrived. Kirsten and her father had arrived together, and Caleb had done all the talking at the press conference, as Kirsten stood behind and smiled. After Caleb had cut the ribbon on the project, he and Kirsten got a little tour of the grounds. Kirsten thought that this was a little ridiculous and unnecessary, as nothing had been done yet. It was pretty much just an empty lot with a hunk of concrete in the middle.

"And here's where the front entrance will be," the man who owned the construction company was giving the tour, and he pointed to the area across from what looked to be an extremely shady liquor store. His phone went off, and he smiled apologetically at Kirsten and Caleb before answering. "I'm sorry," he said after hanging up. "There's a slight emergency at another sight. Ryan! Come here!" The boy that he was calling over came trotting to the little group. Kirsten bit back the urge to gasp. This construction worker was no more than a child. He looked to be about Seth's age. She struggled to imagine Seth having to work somewhere like this.

"Yes?" Ryan asked politely.

"This is Mr. Nichol, and his daughter, Mrs. Cohen. They own the Newport Group, can you handle any questions that they have? Just show them around." He waved his hand at the nearly empty lot, and hurried off.

"I'm done here," Caleb said. "Kiki, I'm assuming you can get home okay?" Kirsten nodded, and Caleb walked away.

"Do you have any questions?" Ryan asked. Kirsten went to shake her head, but curiosity got the better of her.

"How long have you worked for Mr. Douglas?" Kirsten asked.

"Um, I worked for him for the past couple summers, and he just gave me a full time job a few weeks ago."

"How old are you?" Kirsten blurted out, and then felt stupid for asking such a personal question. "I'm sorry. I didn't…You don't have to give me a tour of an empty lot. You can go back to doing whatever you were doing. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"No, its okay, I was just about to go home," Ryan said shrugging.

"Then go home," Kirsten said smiling at him. "It was nice to meet you Ryan."

"You too Mrs. Cohen," Ryan looked awfully relieved to not have to answer her last question, and he quickly walked away from her. She pulled out her phone and started towards the car, calling Sandy.

"Hey, honey it's me," she said into the phone as she searched her purse for her keys.

"Hey, how was the press conference?"

"Boring as usual. I stood behind and smiled. I know now what it feels like to be a politician's wife." Sandy laughed.

"Are you still coming to meet me for dinner?"

"I would love that," Kirsten said smiling, she balanced the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she rooted through her purse. "Should I come to your office?" Before he could answer, Kirsten felt strong hands grab her roughly from behind. He pulled her between two buildings, and covered her mouth with his hand.

"Hey pretty thing. Drop the phone." Kirsten felt so stupid for parking near an empty alley, as it was nearing dusk.

"Kirsten?" She could hear Sandy's voice as she dropped the phone to the ground.

"Please. Take my purse, don't hurt me," Kirsten pleaded. She knew that Sandy could hear this and was calling the police, but she wasn't so naïve to think that that they could get there in time. She was so stupid. Sandy had even warned her to be careful. With one swift move, the man had her pinned up against the wall, and she winced when her head made contact with the bricks behind her. She groaned, and tried to protest when he began pulling her skirt up her legs. He had a knife that was pressing into her exposed stomach so hard that it was drawing blood, and she saw it drip down onto her white skirt.

"Hey, let her go!" She couldn't see who was talking, but the next thing she knew, the man had loosened his grip on her and she tumbled to the ground. She tried to get up, but got too dizzy and had to close her eyes and sit back down. She heard the sound of sirens, just as she felt gently hands wrap themselves around her arms helping her stand up, and a soft voice ask,

"Mrs. Cohen? Are you okay? The police are on their way."

Okay, so I already have the next chapter written, but I'll only post it if you like it. Review and let me know what you thought! Thanks!